At the Circus
by myoptic recollections
Summary: Seth imprints on an acrobat during a trip to the circus with Quil and Claire. When she shoots him down, he is forced to join the circus as well. But far from home, contending with a vampire as a coworker, and dealing with a reluctant imprint, what's a shapeshifter to do? SethOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Seth was fidgeting restlessly in his seat when Quil got back, balancing a tub of popcorn and some pink feathery baton toy that Claire had really wanted. "Relax, dude, it's just the circus," Quil said, throwing some popcorn at his anxious friend.

"Too many people," Seth muttered to him. Too many unfamiliar scents, unfamiliar faces; their voices were assaulting his sensitive hearing. There were too many unknown threats and variables to contend with. Then Seth saw what his friend was holding and broke into his characteristic grin. "Did you get me a wand too?" he joked.

"Shut up," Quil said good-naturedly.

Claire came bouncing over and plopped onto the seat between them. "Quil! Where are the clowns?"

"They're coming, Claire-bear." He ruffled her hair and passed her the toy. "You're going to have to protect Seth, though. He's scared of them," he stage-whispered to the girl.

"Save me, Claire!" Seth mock-yelled as two clowns came out, nearly thirty feet away. He grabbed the four year old and hauled her in front of him, using her as a human shield. "The terror!"

She giggled loudly. "Seth!"

The show started not too long after, a long and, to a supernatural wolf, somewhat boring litany of routines. Once you saw your best friends transform into huge, crazy strong wolves, seeing a lion tamer just didn't have the same effect. Claire was bouncing in her seat, though, squealing as the clowns came out on unicycles and the trapeze artists soared high above. Seth spent most of his time discreetly throwing popcorn at Quil over Claire's head.

Until the acrobats came out. Something about them made Seth sit up, made him pay attention to the lithe forms springing across the stage. The men formed a pyramid while the women were spinning and flipping around them. And then a group formed in front of the pyramid, and they hoisted one of the women up. She was tiny, but smiled brilliantly at the crowd, her eyes sweeping the audience quickly.

For the briefest second, her gaze connected with Seth's, and he gasped, nearly doubling over as he felt all of his ties to earth being abruptly ruptured and reattached to this petite girl that was, in the next instant, hurtling upwards, her body cartwheeling through the air. A second later, the top two acrobats on the pyramid caught her, and Seth felt the air rush back into his lungs in a ridiculously loud gasp.

He was vaguely aware of Claire giggling at him, of the people around them shooting him dirty looks, but he couldn't look away from the girl. She was completely recovered, and took a deep breath before catapulting off the shoulders of the men under her, flipping twenty feet back down to the stage.

The crazy accordion music roared back to life, and the acrobats did a few more stunts before bowing to the next act, another group of clowns. Seth leaned forward in his seat, trying to follow that girl's exit. Where was she going?

Quil's hand slammed down on his shoulder. "Easy, brother," he murmured. "Did you…?"

Seth couldn't look away from where she had disappeared. His friend's hand tightened on his shoulder. He reluctantly nodded, his hands grasping desperately onto the chair arms. His world had just vanished past a few curtains. What the heck was he supposed to do now?

"Claire, I think maybe it's time to leave," Quil said tactfully. He hauled the little girl onto his shoulder and dragged Seth from his chair.

"But Quil, what about the tight rope walkers?" his tiny imprint wailed.

"I'll get Seth to walk a tight rope for you later," he promised. Seth, as far as he was following this conversation, wasn't sure if it was a joking promise or a serious threat. Instead, he allowed himself to be trailed along behind his pack mate.

Quil took them all the way back to his truck, where he buckled Claire in. Then he turned around and looked at Seth, who was staring back at the big tent. He could feel his center of gravity still back there. "Do you want us to wait for you? It's an hour run back to La Push."

Seth seemed to have a hard time thinking, like his brain was encased in jello. "Back to La Push? But she's here."

Quil grabbed his arm. "But you're coming back to La Push, right, man?" He shut the car door quickly so Claire wouldn't overhear too much. "You have to come back home. Think of your mom, Leah. Think of the pack."

Seth shook his head, trying to clear it. "Of course, dude." How had he forgotten his family? Just because he had seen a girl—his soulmate, he corrected mentally—did not mean he could just forget everything that was important to him. "Yeah, I'll just go…introduce myself or something." He gave Quil a look of pure panic. "What do I say?"

Quil grinned. "Say, hi, my name is Seth, and I'd liked to take you on an awesome, completely unsupernatural date."

"Yeah, that sounds good, man," he said, nodding enthusiastically. He was so nervous. More nervous than when he had to make a speech in front of his entire grade at school, more nervous than when he tried to kiss Trisha Beckett in fifth grade for the first time, more nervous than he had ever felt. He wiped his palms on his pants quickly. "How do I look?"

"Like you should probably think of a good reason to have come to the circus by yourself." Quil laughed. "I'm kidding! Dude, she's your imprint. I'm sure she'll be happy to meet you."

Seth straightened up, grinning. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. We're like, meant to be. How could she resist me?"

Quil clapped him on the back and left him marching off down the parking lot, to a probable demise. Luckily Claire wasn't too upset about the tightrope walkers, because she thought seeing Seth do it would be more fun anyways.

* * *

Seth paused behind the back entrance to the circus tent. Was this legal? Could he be back here? A couple of burly-looking guys were giving him weird looks, so he quietly tucked the bouquet of flowers he held behind his back with a sheepish look. He could feel the imprint bond in the back of his head, like how he knew where his hand was, he could just sense that she was still in the big tent. In a sudden moment of panic, he wondered how he would recognize her if she came out. Would she still be wearing stage make up and a costume?

He forced down that panic when a couple of the other performers came out. He recognized a few of the trapeze artists, still in their maroon costumes. A few of them gave him suspicious looks, but most continued on to the trailers parked behind the tent.

Seth took a deep breath. The pull was coming closer. She was almost here.

A group of girls came out of the tent, and he knew instinctively that she was among them. One of them was laughing, and came running out holding a pair of shoes above another's head. She almost ran into Seth, and they all abruptly stopped laughing and gave him a communal weird look.

He shifted nervously and cleared his throat. "That was a great show," he tried hesitantly, his eyes desperately searching their faces. He would know her when he saw her, but there were too many, all giggling behind their hands. There! Her! The serious one in back, the only one not laughing. He looked into her eyes and knew, in a gut-dropping, world-spinning type of way, that she was it.

Without really seeing the others, he waded slowly between them, holding out his flowers. What had Quil told him to say? Finally, he stood in front of her, and instead of saying anything at all, just held out the flowers.

She was short, he realized, her head barely reaching his shoulder. And she was tiny, thin, but in a lean, muscled way. Her hair was dark, but it was still pulled back into a side bun from the performance, although her face was free of the crazy stage make up, and he could tell that she was some type of Native American. And she looked…not as overjoyed to see him as he was to see her. In fact, he could feel her nervousness and squeamishness in the back of his gut, and it was making _him_ more nervous.

This was only his first encounter with his soulmate. No big deal.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked, not taking the bouquet. Her voice was beautiful, clear and light, with the slightest southern accent. He felt it cut straight through him.

Seth tried to smile encouraging, but it might have come out looking overly pained. "No, but I'm totally normal. Do you want to go out?" He winced when he heard himself say that. "No, that's not what I meant!"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I don't date random creeps."

"I'm not a creep!" Seth said immediately, his voice a bit too high. He wanted to tell her he was his soulmate, but he stopped himself.

"Yeah, you're totally normal," one of the other girls said sarcastically.

One of the male performers came swaggering over and tried to fold his arms intimidatingly. "This guy bothering you, Hannah?"

Part of Seth was happy that his imprint clearly had friends and coworkers who would watch out for her. But part of him was pissed that they would keep her from him. He watched helplessly as she shook her head. "No, he was just leaving," Hannah said with a pointed look.

"I could show you around Seattle!" he offered desperately.

His imprint shook her head decisively. "Sorry, we're leaving tomorrow night, and I don't have time to date. Not that I would," she added.

Seth felt crushed. His whole world was now embodied in this girl, and she had rejected him. "Oh, ok," he said, trying to hide his disappointment. "Here, I got these for you," he said, thrusting the flowers at her again, but she shook her head. "Right then," he muttered, turning and trudging away.

"Wait!" one of the girls shouted before he had made it twenty feet. He turned around hopefully, even though he knew that it wasn't her.

She jogged over to him quickly, giving him a sly look. "I'm not rehearsing tonight," she said, throwing the group a look over her shoulder as she sidled up to him. "Is that tour option still open?"

Seth looked from her to Hannah, who was pretending not to listen. Not to you, he wanted to say, but couldn't find it in himself to be that rude to a stranger. Instead he shook his head silently at her, willing her to go away.

She clearly didn't get the message and pressed a piece of paper into his hand. "If you get bored later," she said with a wink. Seth tried to contain his wince as he gave it back, before walking away without a word. It was unusual for him to be that abrupt, but in his defense his reason for living had just crushed all of his hopes.

"Who the heck was that?" he heard one of the girls whisper behind him.

"Doesn't matter, now," his imprint answered, and Seth barely contained his need to phase right there in the middle of Seattle. What was he supposed to do now?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hannah woke up early that morning. Padding quietly out of the trailer that she shared with one of her fellow performers, she winced at the wet grass. Why was it always raining in northwestern America? She'd have to find somewhere inside to practice.

She passed the first two tents, settling on the smaller one in the back. It housed many of the costumes and sets that the circus required, but she knew that there would be extra room in the back. Maxine kept her one allotted tent extremely neat, and Hannah didn't need too much space. Unsurprisingly, the small seamstress was already at work, her light showing through the canvas side of the tent.

"Morning, Maxine," Hannah murmured as she passed by her.

"Morning, Hannah," the older woman said, barely looking up from her sewing machine. "Don't move anything around. I just got all the fabric where I need it."

"You need a trailer so you're not unpacking all the time," Hannah shot back, their same old argument.

Maxine wrinkled her nose. "They smell. My fabric would smell. And the trailers are moldy and _wet_."

The dancer shook her head and let herself into the next "room," just a small area partitioned off with more cloth. She settled onto the dry ground and started her stretching routine: first her legs and feet, then her back and center, and finally her arms, shoulders, and neck. She moved onto small basic ballet exercises. Just because she was off with the circus didn't mean that she could let her technique go. Almost an hour later, her light tee shirt was stained with sweat and she was pleasantly stretched out and loosened up.

As she moved on to the more advanced moves, her mind wandered to the boy who had found her after the performance last night. It had been a long time since the last time a guy had asked her out. She had never had time for such things in high school, had never been the carefree and flirty girl that had gotten asked out. A part of her had been tempted to say yes, just out of pure desperation and curiosity. What would it be like to be the girl that was walking down the street with her hand tucked into her boyfriend's hand? What would it be like to stay up all night talking on the phone about stupid things?

But then the real world had slammed down hard on her. She couldn't stay up late talking to a boyfriend, because she had to get up early, like today, to get in ballet practice before morning acrobatics practice. By the time she had cleaned up after the night performance, she barely had the energy to stay up with her friends and coworkers for an hour or two.

And a relationship was out of the question. The troupe would be moving to a new place in a few days, and she would have to go with them. What kind of relationship starts out as long distance? The kind that is built to fail. It was a frivolous, impossible dream, and she needed to forget it.

Just as that thought came, she landed the turn she was practicing wrong, and stumbled out of it. Blowing her bangs out of her face in frustration, she pushed all thoughts of boys out of her mind, and concentrated on her dancing.

* * *

Seth was waiting quietly outside of Jake's house the next morning. Jake came out still dressed in his pajama pants, not wanting to put this conversation off. "You want some breakfast, man?" he asked out of consideration. They both knew that Seth was not there to eat, that they had more important things to get out of the way.

Seth shook his head. "Did Quil already tell you?" he asked.

His Alpha shrugged. "I did want to know why you weren't back last night." He paused and studied the younger man's face. "How'd it go?"

The Beta sighed. "I blew it and came off as a major creep. Quil told me to just introduce myself and ask her out. It didn't work well."

Jake's eyebrows twitched. "Quil has barely talked to any girls since he imprinted three years ago."

Seth scowled. "I remember that—now. They're moving on to San Diego tomorrow night." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm going with them."

Jake nodded. Seth wasn't asking permission; he knew what he had to do, and he was just telling his leader as a courtesy. Still, a part of Seth needed his validation. Jake clapped a hand on Seth's shoulder. "It's been great running with you, brother. Go do what you have to do, and then come back to us. You know you'll always have a place in my pack."

Seth forced a smile onto his face. "Thanks. Watch Leah and my mom for me?"

"Of course." Jake watched his friend shift restlessly. "What are you going to tell them?"

The younger boy shrugged. "The truth, I guess."

Jake snickered. "Good luck with that." He grew more serious. "I could talk to the council about your job. They'll understand."

Seth frowned. There were lots of people looking for work, even just his crappy job at a construction business. He was making a bit of money on the side teaching kids to play the guitar, though, so he could afford a few weeks looking for work. "I don't know when I'll be back," he said honestly.

His former alpha nodded. He didn't necessarily approve, but he understood.

* * *

Seth packed up everything he thought he might need for a month or two on the road. He was hoping it wouldn't be that long, but who knew what would happen. He wasn't even really sure what he was doing. Trying to convince his soul mate that she belonged with him and give up her job? He didn't think that was the right thing to do, but wasn't sure what else to do.

With that, he loaded up Embry's truck with one duffle, packed with clothes and essentials, along with his trusty guitar. His father had taught him to play and he had inherited the instrument from him. Seth hoped it would give him good luck.

Embry waited patiently in the drivers' seat, trying to appear that he wasn't listening in as Seth turned to his mother. Leah was upstairs. She had stormed out of the room when he announced his plan. Sue offered him an apologetic look when she caught him glancing towards his sister's bedroom window.

"She'll come around," his mother said, gathering him in a hug. "We'll miss you."

Seth hugged her back. He had been taller than his mother since first phasing at fourteen, but today it seemed more noticeable. She seemed so short, so much older after Harry passed. For a second he doubted his plans. How could he leave his family alone?

"We'll be fine," Sue said, as if knowing his worries. "Be careful, son. Don't get hurt."

He wasn't sure exactly who or what she was warning him about, but nodded anyway.

"Did you pack a nicer shirt? You're going in for a job interview," she fussed.

Seth grinned. "I'm interviewing at the circus, Ma. I think they'll overlook my wardrobe." He paused. "I'll call you when I know what's happening. Love you, Ma." And with one last hug he was in the truck, headed away from everything he knew.

* * *

"I'd like a job, if you have one."

The older man that was running the show in the main ring looked at Seth disdainfully. "Doing what?" His eyes lingered over the younger man's muscles. "A lion tamer?" he asked sardonically.

Seth indicated his guitar. "I can play the guitar, drums, percussion, bass, violin, pretty much whatever you need."

The manager flapped a hand at him. "We've got a full band, already. Go home, kid." He turned around to supervise some workers taking down the tent behind them.

"Sir, I can do whatever. I'm a fast learner, and I work hard," he said desperately. The manager ignored him.

It was primarily Seth's heightened senses that let him hear the snapping of one of the cords way up on the main canvas roll. His head snapped up and he saw one of the poles start to collapse under the additional weight. "Hey!" he shouted at the guy standing underneath it. There wasn't enough time. He jumped the concrete barrier in front of the tent and raced forward, shoving the man backward. The heavy pole crashed to the ground right behind them, where they had been standing.

The worker looked from Seth to the pole, pale. "Thanks, man."

Seth grunted a response, before turning around. The manager was right behind him, giving him a thoughtful look. "We move around all the time. They're long hours and the pay's crap. Can't complain about the food, though. Still interested?" Seth nodded excitedly. The manager heaved a sigh. "Alright, I guess we could use you in the grounds crew, maybe a little security." He shook off Seth's thanks. "Thank me if you're still with us in a month."

He waved forward a younger guy that was standing by the side. "Mac has a spare bunk in his trailer. He'll show you around."

* * *

Hannah was eating dinner with her friends that night when her roommate nudged her.

"Isn't that new guy the same dude that asked you out in Seattle?" Silvia asked, craning her head around to see him.

Hannah's head shot up. "What?" She looked over, and sure enough, it was him. "What's he doing here?"

"Do you think he's like stalking you?" Silvia's dark eyes sparkled with mirth.

Hannah shook her head. "No, he's harmless." He just seemed way too naïve. He wouldn't hurt her, she believed for some reason.

Silva smirked at her quick reaction. "Ahhh is someone maybe rethinking their refusal of a date?" she asked slyly. "You do have plenty of chance now. He seemed quite smitten…"

"He seemed quite dazed." Hannah rolled her eyes. "He was probably on drugs or something, probably doesn't even remember me. It's for the best, anyway." She tried and failed to tear her eyes away from him. He looked so lonely, sitting there by himself. She was about to suggest that they go sit with him when she saw Kurt walk up to his table. Good, he already knew some of the guys. He'd be fine without her. "I'm going to go get a practice in," Hannah said, standing up abruptly.

"But you already had one today," Silvia whined. "We were going to hang out."

"We'll hang out later," Hannah said evenly, fending off her roommates' complaints as she left. Some girls dealt with stress with chocolate or by gossiping to their friends, but Hannah danced. It was kind of her standard answer to any situation, but she needed to lose herself in the music, to both get away from her thoughts and express her emotions. And right now she wasn't sure what she was feeling, but she knew how to deal with it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Mac had dropped Seth off at dinner, explaining that he had a last minute rehearsal to do. Seth was only vaguely certain that he would be able to find his way back to the trailer where they were sleeping by himself. There was a good chance that he would be smelling his way back through the maze of trailers and tents.

He poked unenthusiastically at his stir fry and stared around the mess tent cautiously. His imprint was a few tables over. This was the first time he had seen her since the date debacle, as he had taken to calling it. When not all dressed up for a performance, she seemed more laid back. Her hair was tied in a knot on top of her head, except for some shorter pieces that fell into her eyes. Her skin was tan, a bit lighter than his, and he definitely thought she was some type of Native American. Like the other performers at the table, she was dressed casually in a sweatshirt and track pants. The way she moved, even just sitting at the table, belayed a certain grace.

He was wretched out from his staring by the scent of vampire. The sickly sweet smell was flooding his senses and making him anxious. His imprint was here. He had to neutralize the threat.

The source of the smell suddenly walked by his table. She was gorgeous, in that unreachable, unreal way of vampires, her body frozen in eternal youth. She was dressed in loose sweats, like many of the other performers just out of practice. Did she work here? She turned her head towards him as she passed, tossing her perfect blond curls out of her face and giving him a flirtatious wave.

He growled, ready to rise to his feet, but then saw her sit down at a table full of acrobats. Including Hannah.

His gaze narrowed, and he gripped the table to stop himself from making a scene.

This bloodsucker, whoever she was, was accepted here. She was liked. Maybe she was like the Cullens, just looking to coexist?

His glaring contest with the vampire was broken off when someone sat down at his table uninvited. "Hey, Seattle," the guy said. "I'm Kurt. How's it hanging?"

"The name's Seth," he corrected lightly, not liking the way the guy was eyeing him up, even as he kept one eye on where his imprint was within arm distance of a bloodsucker.

His companion didn't acknowledge the correction. "So we heard you were lurking around some of the girls after the show on Thursday. I just want to let you know that this isn't one of those circuses that just picks up freaks. We're close here, dude, and we look out for one another." He lowered his voice and leaned forward a bit. "So I don't want to hear anything about you harassing any of the girls, you hear? If you think they're just some cheap sideshow strippers…"

Seth suddenly gave him his full attention. He definitely wasn't the biggest threat here; it was the leech at the next table! He had to cut Kurt off. "That's not what I think at all," he growled lightly. "I appreciate your concern for your coworkers, and I promise. No funny business."

The guy continued to study him for a moment, probably for intimidation effect, before he finally smiled tightly and offered him his hand. "Welcome to the show, dude." He stood up, but paused for a moment, his eyes drifting over to where Seth sensed his imprint was. "I'll be watching you," he warned quietly.

Seth nodded, not looking at Hannah. He sensed her leaving, walking out the door of the mess hall, but resisted the tug to follow her.

For a few minutes, at least.

He stood up and dumped his tray. He could sense vaguely where Hannah was at all times, and moving quickly he could just see her up ahead, going towards one of the smaller tents. He tried to look casual, as if he just happened to be wandering the same way, when the wind shifted.

The vampire was following him.

He turned around quickly, making her smirk. "Why are you following me?" he demanded.

She laughed, a bit condescendingly. "Why are you following her?" She tilted her head towards Hannah, who was quickly getting away through the maze of trailers.

"None of your business," he growled. "The only reason I haven't taken you out is because you seem relatively safe, but don't count us as friends." Having an imprint made him so much more serious these days. The long hours of following her, the panic and stress of having so many people around her all the time, the cities filled with strangers, and the separation from his pack and family had worn him down mentally and physically.

"Down, dog," the leech said lightly. "Oh! Is she your-what do you call it?-mark? Your mate?"

"It doesn't matter." Seth was done with this conversation. He didn't need romantic advice, especially not from his mortal enemies. The Cullens were one thing, but he had no treaty, no reason to trust her. He turned to glare at her. "Anything else?"

She had stopped smiling finally. She actually looked kind of sad. "Why haven't you told her yet?"

He snorted. "Look, I'm not really looking for a heart to heart, especially not with a bloodsucker. No offense," he added quickly when her concerned look faded back into her haughty mask.

She sniffed. "It's not like I care about your mongrel problems, I was just wondering if there was a reason you wanted to come off as a creepy stalker to her." She shrugged. "Who knows, maybe that's in vogue today."

"You wouldn't know, would you?" he shot back. "What are you, like a hundred?"

The vampire smirked. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to ask a lady her age?" She pretended to fan herself lightly, the air barely moving her perfect brown curls. "For your information, though, I was born in 1940. I'm quite young by supernatural standards."

Seth was torn between keeping one eye on her, a threat, and watching his imprint fade into the distance. He missed her look of annoyance when he wasn't paying attention.

"Well then, if we're not going to fight and you're just going to stare at her, then I'll leave you to your stalking," she said lightly. "If you ever actually talk to her, make sure you close your mouth, hon."

His head snapped back to her as she left. He was confused by the entire encounter. What had she wanted?

He was distracted by the sudden wave of confusion and anxiety from the other end of the imprint bond. It faded almost immediately into a warm, subtle happiness. What had happened? Was she taking drugs or something?

He followed the tug of the bond towards the smallest of the tents and slid inside the door, keeping to the shadows. The happiness and contentment of his imprint was growing steadily. Maybe she was making love to someone? He felt rage and jealously at the thought.

The first room of the tent held a small table and dozens and dozens of racks of clothing. It was all wildly colored, all costumes, covered in feathers and sequins and beading and things Seth couldn't identify. He sensed his imprint was still farther, behind a canvas partition.

He padded forward cautiously. This definitely counted under stalker behavior, but he couldn't stop himself. Also, there was some crazy vampire wandering around this circus, he justified to himself as he peeked around the curtain, unsure of what he'd find.

She was…dancing.

The small side space of the tent was almost completely open, with just a simple beaten dirt floor. Hannah had taken off her sweatshirt and sweatpants, revealing long, tan arms and legs barely covered by a leotard. She had earphones tucked into each ear, and a music player clipped onto her sleeve. Even though he couldn't hear the music, he could tell that her movements rose and fell with it.

Seth watched his imprint twirl across the floor, feeling a stupid grin cover his face. Her body formed graceful lines as she swayed and twisted, her toes pointed and legs straight and back arched. She had a small smile on her face that was just visible as her leg kicked out and she leaped lightly from foot to foot. Her arms floated around her body.

It was beautiful. Her joy welled out of her, overflowing into him until he wanted to laugh for the pure happiness of it.

_This_ was his imprint. This carefree girl was the one that was meant for him.

He clasped his hands together to stop himself from clapping and giving away his presence. But as he crept back into the shadows, he promised himself that he would do whatever it took to keep this joyful girl.

Hannah ended the song with a few turns and a clean landing, feeling good about it. She didn't usually land triples so well, especially not on the rough tent flooring. Along with that, she felt a renewed sense of composure. There was no reason to worry about that guy, he probably didn't even remember her, she reasoned.

She stretched quickly and pulled on her sweats and headed back to the trailer she split with Silvia. She found her roommate in the middle of watching a movie with one of the jugglers, Fin. She quietly shut the door before they noticed her and sighed. Hannah had been watching Fin and Silvia dance around each other for months; she couldn't interrupt their time together now.

She glanced around and finally settled on a direction. The trailer two rows over from hers was draped in a huge Jamaican flag. She knocked on the door before letting herself in.

"Mac? Jordan?" The two were brothers, both acrobats, and both funny. They were usually where Hannah turned when Silvia was busy. Inside the crowded trailer, she found only Jordan, sitting upside down on his bed with a book.

"Hey girl," he said. "You get sexiled? We saw Filvia disappear into your place." Filvia was their group's unofficial name for Fin and Silvia, should they ever become a couple.

Hannah climbed onto the bunk above his, hanging her head down to talk. "They're just watching a movie, but it looked awfully cozy." She giggled. "I don't think they even saw me come in."

She glanced over at the bed in the corner, where they usually piled their stuff when they were too lazy to clean. Instead there was a duffle bag and a guitar case.

"We got a new roommate. I knew the spare bed was too good to be true," Jordan sighed when he saw her looking. "Seems like a nice enough guy though, for a Smith." He grinned wickedly, his white teeth bright against his dark skin. "Smith," was slang for normal, non-circus folk. "We think he might have gotten lost getting back here, so Mac went out to look for him."

Hannah tried to control her reaction. Their new roommate couldn't be the same guy that asked her out, right? Their circus was a pretty big crew, with over a hundred people.

"Poor guy, having to be subjected to your sanitary habits," she said drily, flinging one of Mac's socks at him.

He easily blocked it with his book. "Now that's why I get the new people. Because I'm the nice one," he told her primly. "By the way, do you know where Mac got the idea that early morning practices were a good idea?"

She tried but failed to hide her smirk. "I have no idea..."

"Hannah, you cannot make me get up at eight! That's inhumane!" He kicked up at her bunk.

"Nine AM practices aren't early, Jordan. That's like, midmorning," she corrected. She laughed as his kicks made the mattress she was sitting on buck and tilt. "Jordan!" she cried, grabbing for the sheets.

"I can't hear you! Take your nine AM practices back!" Jordan called back teasingly. Neither of them heard the door open. He kicked the bunk particularly hard, and she felt herself be flung off the bed. Luckily this was just acrobatic practice, and she tucked herself into a ball automatically, flipping until her feet were down and her head was up. She braced herself for the landing and then…

"Ugh!" She hit something solid feet first, and it grunted. Off balance, they fell into the wall in a jumble of limbs, but somehow the unlucky fellow managed to catch her. The trailer rocked back and forth for a moment, and then Hannah scrambled out of the stranger's arms. It was a farther drop to the floor than she expected, but she somehow got her feet under her again.

Blowing her hair out of her eyes, she looked up to apologize to the man she had tumbled into, looked up farther, and found the guy. The creep. The words froze in her throat, and they just stared at one another for a moment.

"Sorry, dude," Jordan called from his bed, still sitting upside down. "This is my friend Hannah. Hope she didn't damage you too much."

The newcomer let out a deep laugh that seemed to go on for longer than it should. Jordan wasn't that funny. "Sorry, you're just so small," he said as explanation eventually.

She bristled a bit. "I was going to land that, you know." She tightened her hair band and huffed. "Sorry I hit you."

He looked like he was trying to hold in another chuckle. "I'm Seth." She shook his hand, wondering if he would bring up yesterday. Thankfully, he seemed to realize that neither of them wanted to discuss it.

"Did you see Mac out there?" Jordan broke in. "He thought you were lost."

Hannah suddenly realized that she was staring at the Smith, and tore her gaze away. She climbed back onto Mac's bed as Seth explained that Jordan's brother had found him but was now visiting Derek.

Hannah and Jordan rolled their eyes simultaneously. "Derek again…"

"Mac's trying to get Derek to teach him some tricks on the cyr wheel," he explained to Seth. "Derek won't teach him because right now he's the only one that knows how to do it, so he automatically gets to headline. So Mac likes to pretend that he and Derek are best friends."

"I told him to just youtube it," Hannah commented. "The internet's a big place. Someone somewhere knows how to use it."

"He'll forget about it in a few days," Jordan said certainly.

Seth still looked a bit confused, but he moved over to his bed and started organizing.

"Hey, can you play that thing?"

Seth looked up at his new roommate and back to his guitar. "Yeah, of course."

Jordan whooped. "Yes, group sing a long is resurrected!" Ignoring his theatrics, Hannah stepped on his shoulder on the way back up to the top bunk. "Aw, come on Hannah! It'll be more fun without Ina!"

She rolled her eyes. "Everything is more fun without Ina."

Jordan told Seth, "We used to have group sing a long in here with our old roommate Jeff, but then he started dating this girl Ina that made everyone sing Russian folk songs."

"It wasn't the singing so much as the dancing that was the problem. Russian folk dancing is a blight on society," Hannah cut in drily.

Seth chuckled nervously. "I promise, no Russian folk songs." He grabbed a few things from his bags and then stood up. "I think I'm supposed to meet the grounds crew now. It was nice meeting you two."

Jordan waved him out. It wasn't until he left that Hannah let out her breath.

"You're quiet," her fellow acrobat said.

She ducked the sock he threw back up at her. "Your new roommate asked me out yesterday."

Jordan raised his eyebrows. "Are you offended?"

She groaned. "No, I'm just awkward and busy. Don't mind me."

"Do I sense another name mash coming on?"he asked teasingly. "Hannah and Seth? Hath? Sennah! Sennah. What, I'm just being optiministic!"

"Your optimism isn't helping my awkward." She sighed. "Filvia's probably done, right? I want to get in some early practice before we leave tomorrow."

"Always dance first, never Jordan," he complained. "Go on, be gone then."

She laughed. "Good night!"


End file.
